Dyed carroted fur fibers and fabrics and method of dyeing the same



Patented Jan. 30, 1951 DYED CARROTED FUR FIBERS AND FABRICS AND METHODOF DYEING THE SAME Stanley G. Hoffman, Norwalk, Conn., assignor to HatCorporation of America, Nor-walk, Conn, a

corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application April 14, 1948, SerialNo. 21,096

5 fliaims.

The present invention relates to dyed fur fibers, dyed fur felt fabricsor hat bodies and the method of producing the same.

Mottle or ununiform color appearing in fur felt hats has been a problemin the fur felt industry for over one hundred years. This mottle usuallyshows up to a greater degree the more the hats or fabrics are processedto remove the rough uter surface and produce a finer felt so that agreat loss both as to time and acceptable product is sustained. Thepresence of mottle in the fabric has been attributed to many factors.Some believed that it was due to the condition of the animal when thefur was taken, others believed that it was due to the working of thefelt into fabric form and still others believed that it was due to poordye penetration. H

While many attempts have been made to overcome this condition, such asmore careful selection and combining of the fur fibers, variations inthe treatment of the fur during felting and in the dye cycle, theseefforts have been ineffective to overcome this defect.

I have discoveredthat the cause of mottle does not reside in the factorsnoted above, but instead is caused by the fact that the fur fibers whendyed with the usual acid dye for fur did not dye uniformly throughoutthe length thereof and that this condition resulted from a changing ofthe tip portion of the fibers during the carroting operation to whichthey are subjected to improve the felting properties of the fur fiber,and that the amount of mottle bears a definite relation to the extent ofcarroting of the fibers in the fabr10. carroting treatment, a lesseramount of the tip is changed and a minimum of mottle is produced. If thefur is subjected to a strong carroting oper-- ation a greater amount ofthe fiber is changed chemically and physically and a greater amount ofmottle appears in the fur fabric.

In the carroting operation, the fur fibers are treated by brushing witha carroting solution which maybe either of the mercuric or nonmercurictype. and causes the fibers to felt together better. The term carrotedfur as used herein designates such fibers.

In softening the tips, the carroting treatment changes the fur in thetips both chemically and In other words, if a fur is given a light Thistreatment softens the tips 2 physically. I have found that this changein the tips causes them to have a less affinity for the usual acid dyethan the remainder or stems of the fibers. Thus each carroted fiber whendyed with acid dye would have the required color on the stem but muchless or no color on the tip. When these fibers are felted to form thefabric the lesser dyed or undyed tip portion which usually works to thecenter of the felt produces the light spots in the dyed fabric.

This difficulty has been overcome according to the present invention bydyeing the fabric, hat body and/or fibers with a combination ofdyestuffs which dye both the tip and stem substantially the same amountso as to produce a uniform or level color throughout the fiber.

I have found that an acid metallized dyestuff, i. e., an acid dyestufiwhich is a metal compound of azodyestuff, as for example described in U.S. Patent No. 1,753,120, has a strong afiinity for the carroted tip anda much less affinity for the stem of the fiber. The acid metallizeddyestuff differs from the conventional mordant dyestuffs which usuallyrequire the addition of mordant at the start of dyeing or as anafter-treatment. When this dyestuif is used alone there is a tendency toproduce a shadow effect or reverse mottle. However, when it is combinedwith an acid dyestuif normally used for dyeing fur felt, and for whichthe stem of the fur fiber has a strong afiinity, in proper proportionsas determined by the extent of the carroting operation, a uniform coloron the fiber and elimination of mottle from the fabric or hat body, evenwhen the fabric and/or hat body are processed to produce a fine finish,is obtained.

In ascertaining the proportions of the acid dyestuff and acid metallizeddyestuff to be used in the combination, the fur to be dyed is tested bythe usual felting test to determine the extent of the carroting action.After the extent f carroting action has been determined the amount ofacid metallized dye necessary to color the tip and the amount of aciddye to color the stems can be readily determined by those skilled in theart.

The acid dyes used in accordance with the pres-' Amalan Blue GGLCalcofast W001 Blue 2G Chromolan Blue NGG Chromacyl Blue GG Gycolan BlueGGL Neolan Blue GG Nyasol F. Blue 2GA Palatine Fast Blue GGNA VitrolanBlue 2G I have also found that the Palatine dyes produced by GeneralDyestuiI Corporation are particularly satisfactory for this purpose.Such dyes are:

Palatine Fast Black WANA Cone. (C. I. Pr. 143) Palatine Fast Blue BNOA(C. I. Pr. 318) Palatine Fast Blue GGNA (C. I. Pr. 144) Palatine FastBlue RRNA (C. I. Pr. 319) Palatine Fast Claret BNA (C. I. Pr. 394)Palatine Fast Claret RNA Conc. (C. I. Pr. 320) Palatine Fast Green BLNACone. (C. I. Pr. 321) Palatine Fast Marine Blue RENA (C. I. Pr. 322)Palatine Fast Orange GEN (C. I. Pr. 323) Palatine Fast Orange GNA (C. I.Pr. 324) Palatine Fast Pink BNA (C. I. Pr. 326) Palatine Fast PalatineRed RNA (C. I. Pr. 327) Palatine Fast Violet 3 RNA (C. I. Pr. 328)Palatine Fast Violet 5 RNA (C. I. Pr. 3'29) Palatine Fast Yellow ELNA(C. I. Pr. 330) Palatine Fast Yellow GRNA (C. I. Pr. 331) If the desiredcolor or shade is not available, two or more metallized dyes are blendedto produce the required color and two or more of the acid dyes areblended to produce the desired color. The proportion of the weight ofeach of the blended acid metallized and acid dyes corresponding to therequired proportion as determined by the tests are then mixed in Waterwith a small amount of glauber salt and sulphuric acid to provide thedye bath for the fabric or hat bodies. The hat body or fabric isimmersed in the bath which is at a temperature of approximately 120 andthe bath is then brought to a higher temperature or to boiling and thematerial maintained therein for about one hour or more after which it isremoved and the fabric processed in the usual manner.

For example, in dyeing one lot of hat bodies a Fawn Brown, it wasdetermined that the combination of dyes should include 30% acidmetallized dyes and 70% of acid dyes. To produce the required color, thefollowing acid metallized dyes and acid were combined.

These were dissolved in water and to the dyeing solution was added 10%of weight of..material dyed of glauber salt and 3% of weight of ma-.-terial dyed of sulphuric acid. The hat bodies 4 were placed in the dyeand dyed in accordance with the procedure outlined above.

In another example, a group of hat bodies were to be dyed a color Vista(a blue-gray). It was determined that the combination should include 70%metallized dyes and 30% acid dyes. To produce the required color, thefollowing acid metallized dyes and acid dyes were combined.

ii v ti iit 'i'i 0 mg 0 e1" Acid Metallized Dyes of Maw Acid Dyes of rrial Dyed rial Dyed Ohromolan Blue NGG. 0.31 Alizarine Fast BluePalatine Fast Orange KFG 0.14 G 0. 24 Erie Brown SRL... 0.08 PalatineFast Yellow Fast Light Yellow ELN 0.18 3G 0.01 Palatine Fast Pink AzoRhodine 2G. 0. 045

Per C ent Per Cent Acid Metallized Dyes gs-gar? Acid Dyes of K 58; rialDyed rial Dyed Cliromolan Blue NGG. 0. l5 Alizarine Blue KFG. 0. 20Palatine Fast Orange Eric Brown 51th.... 0.16 GEN 0. 30 A20 Rhodine 2G0.03 Palatine Fast Yellow ELN 0. 07 Palatine Fast Pink BNA 0.08

These were dissolved in water and to the dyeing solution was added 10%of weight of material dyed of glauber salt and 3% of weight of materialdyed of sulphuric acid. The hat bodies were placed in the dye and dyedin accordance with the procedure outlined above.

While it is at present preferred to dye the fur fibers after they havebeen felted into a fabric or a hat body. it is to be understood thatloose carroted fur fibers may be dyed with the combined dyestufis.

The tips and stems may be dyed in separate operations but it is atpresent preferred to mix the acid and acid metallized dyes in a singlebath and dye the fibers in a single operation. The dyestuff may be mixedby the user as required. However, it is to be understood that it may healso compounded by the dyestuif manufacturer to include the aciddyestuiT and acid metallized dyestuff in the proportions most generallyused by the hat manufacturers and sold to the hat manufacturers in thisform.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of thisinvention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Iclaim: 1. A carroted fur fiber dyed a level color with the tip portiondyed with an acid metallized dye and the remainder dyed with an acid dyeof similar color- 2. A carroted fur fiber dyed in level colorwith anacid metallized dye and an acid dye of sime REFERENCES CITED ilar color.

3. A mottle-free fabric of felted carroted fur gr; g i fi are of recordm the fibers dye with an acid metallized dye and acid dye of similarc0101 5 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 4. A mottle-free hat body of feltedcarroted Number Name t fur fibers dyed with an unreacted mixture of1,337 03 st 15 19 2 an acid metallized dye and acid dye of similar colonFOREIGN PATENTS 5. The process of dyeing a felt hat body of 10 NumberCountry Date carroted fur fibers comprising preparing a dye 526,760Great Britain Sept. 25, 1940 bath including a mixture Of acid dyestuffsand acid metallized dyestufis of similar color; immerging the hat bodyin the bath; and main; Textile Co10r1st, for April 1943, pages 177, 178,taining the hat body in the bath until the re- 15 quired shade isobtained Jour. Soc. Dyers and Chem., for June 1944,

pages 144, 145 (article by Townsend). STANLEY G. HOFFMAN Amer. DyeReporter, for September 8, 1947,

pages P486 to P489 inclusive.

1. A CARROTED FUR FIBER DYED A LEVEL COLOR WITH THE TIP PORTION DYEDWITH AN ACID METALLIZED DYE AND THE REMAINDER DYED WITH AN ACID DYE OFSIMILAR COLOR.